FINRA Hits Morgan Stanley with $13 Million in Fines and Restitution for Inadequate Supervision of UITs

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it ordered Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (Morgan Stanley) to pay $13 million in fines and restitution for failing to supervise the sales of unit investment trusts (UITs). FINRA found that from January 2012 through June 2015, hundreds of Morgan Stanley brokers executed short-term UIT rollovers in thousands of customer accounts.  Further, FINRA found that Morgan Stanley failed to adequately supervise its representatives’ sales by failing to provide sufficient guidance or training to detect unsuitable short-term UIT trading. 

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